SPIN CYCLE: Britain’s annual Wool Week always sets out to quash misconceptions about the fabric, and this year they didn’t disappoint, unveiling an installation of stacked, colorful washing machines in London’s Covent Garden. Dubbed The Wool Care, the installation will be on show until Oct. 21, and is meant to demonstrate the fact that wool is washable, durable — and cool.
“We always thought this was the last frontier. A lot of people think you can’t throw wool in a washing machine, but you can, and when you wash wool, you’re not creating micro-plastics. Wool biodegrades naturally in the sea,” said Peter Ackroyd, chief operating officer for Campaign for Wool.
Hackett, Vivienne Westwood, Marks & Spencer and Adidas are among some of the retailers who took part in the launch earlier this week. “Vivienne Westwood has spread the message of wool extremely well, she talks about buy well, buy less, buy wool,” Ackroyd said.
Jeremy Hackett of the men’s wear brand Hackett unveiled the installation with his dog Muffin and his Aston Martin, which has bespoke wool interiors. Among the other retailers who are preaching the gospel of wool is the outdoor apparel brand Finisterre, which is changing the perception of wool as an “old-fashioned and stuffy” material.
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Fill the spinner with warm water and add 2 teaspoons baby shampoo. Submerge your bra in the water and gently smoosh the cups up and down a few times to get them good and saturated.

Let the bra soak for ten minutes, then start spinning. Give it a few solid spins, and then dump out the soapy water. (See all that gray? That’s dirt and grime leaving your lingerie. Ew.) Rinse the spinner clean, refill it with cold water, put the bra back in and spin again.

Continue rinsing with clean cold water until it runs clear to ensure that all the detergent and dirt have been rinsed out. Finally, pour out the water, place the bra back into the dry spinner and give it several more spins to remove as much water as possible.

Gently squeeze and press the damp bra with a towel to remove more water. (Never wring or twist the cups.)

Hang-dry your delicates (always!) over a drying rack or lay flat on a clean, dry towel. Pro tip: Don’t hang the bra by its straps, as this will cause the elastic to stretch out. (Ta-da! That’s how to avoid annoying shoulder slippage.)

If your white- or nude-colored undergarments still look dingy, discolored or (gasp) yellow, add this step before doing the above routine: Fill the spinner with cold water and add 2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar. Soak your bra for 20 minutes and then start spinning. Proceed with the rest of the process, but be sure to thoroughly rinse out the vinegar solution.

Mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with water to create a paste, gently massage it into the elastic straps and then spin the bra in cold water. You can also use the baking-soda paste as a prewash treatment to spot-treat sweat and deodorant stains.

If the straps still have pills, simply “shave” them away. Here’s how: Once the bra is completely dry, lay it out on a flat surface and lightly run a disposable razor over the fuzzies to remove them.

While there’s no hard-and-fast rule, consider washing your bra after every four to seven wears. Take into account the season (hello, summer under-boob sweat) and how often you are wearing it on a weekly rotation. Try not to wear the same bra more than two days in a row; letting the garment “rest” between wears helps preserve its shape and elasticity.

A note about padded bras: Generally, you should wash them less frequently. The padding holds on to detergent and creates buildup, plus the foamlike material tends to get lumpy and break down when it’s washed too much. Treat these undergarments with extra care.

With 40 percent of the Drumi made from recyclable materials, there isn’t a washing machine quite like it on the market. Watch how it works:

This machine was designed for people who usually go to laundromats, and should come in handy for who live in a compact urban homes or can’t afford a traditional washer and dryer. Though it isn’t intended to entirely eliminate laundromat outings or the use of a regular washing machine, it can replace frequent trips and multiple loads and help reduce a user’s carbon footprint.

Yirego told The Huffington Post that the Drumi will retail for a promotional price of $ 129 until April 23, after which it will retail for $ 169. The product will officially hit the market this summer, but the company is currently accepting pre-orders from Canadian and US residents. Happy pedaling!

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